

In a fictional story about yakuza member Sahei there was a scene of a duel and
the following phrase was used:

> まさかこんな相手に斬られるような左兵衛ではございません。

Clearly it means "Sahei wouldn't lose to such an opponent". However when 〜ような
modifies a proper name, to my ears it sounds like "he is not one of those
named Sahei who would lose to such an opponent". Effectively splitting the
左兵衛-named people into two groups: one that would lose, one that would not.

I find the word order in the above sentence somewhat unusual and wonder if
there was an implicit subject involved modified by 〜ような. I would write it:

> まさか左兵衛はこんな相手に斬られるような人間ではございません。

Are the two sentences equal? Does the original make grammatical sense in
contemporary Japanese? Is there any explanation for such word order (other
than literary style, like the rhythm of a fight)?


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2015-11-09T13:44:44.233
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grammar word-order
Describing a person by applying a modifier to their name 〜ような《名前》


They are equivalent in meaning, though I find the first one more natural.
`まさかこんな相手に斬られるような` is basically a long phrase that is being used as an
adjective. In the first sentence, the adjective describes the noun `左兵衛`. In
the second sentence, the adjective describes the noun `人間`, which is the
object of the sentence.

Granted the sentence is very old school way of talking, but you can think of
it like `I am handsome` vs. `I am a handsome man`.


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2015-11-09T17:40:39.863
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The thing is, `〜ような` is actually optional.

> こんな相手に斬られる左兵衛ではない  
>  _Sahei is not one to lose to such an opponent._

is basically the same, and just as correct. Does that make “one” the
implicitly involved subject? I don't know.

This construct, with or without `〜ような`, is still used in contemporary
Japanese. Here are some things I found on Google:

  * こんなことであきらめる俺じゃない
  * それで怒るような近藤さんじゃない
  * 突き飛ばされたくらいで、体勢を崩すような相良さんじゃない
  * そんなことぐらいでメゲるあゆみさんじゃない


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